Apparatus for controlling the thread feeler means of a textile machine



J1me 1956 s. FURST 2,752,104

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE THREAD FEEL-ER MEANS OF A TEXTILE MACHINE Filed Feb. 4. 1953 l t I \g ,3 a5 6/ g8 49 j p 41 J. as .37 35 COUNTER. 46

Inventor: 33:51 Fbk r United States Patent APPARATUS FGR CONTRQLLlNG 'IHE THREAD FEELER MEANS @F A TEXTEE MACIWE Stefan Fiirst, M. Gladbach, Germany, assignor to Walter Reiners, Waldniel, Lower Rhine, Germany Application February 4, 1953, Serial No. 334,999

Claims priority, application Germany February 9, 1952 11 Claims. (Cl. 24236) The present invention relates to textile machines.

More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the thread feeler means of a textile machine.

It is common in textile machines which wind the thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool to provide a feeler means between the supply and take-up spools to detect a breakage in the thread, this feeler means moving to a predetermined position upon thread breakage to bring into play certain known devices for repairing the thread breakage and starting the apparatus into operation again. Many times, however, the feeler means moves for a reason other than a breakage of thread. The feeler means will move whenever the thread extending from the supply spool to the take-up spool does not have predetermined tension therein, and with these known machines the feeler means moves in the same way as during a thread break when the supply of reserve supply spools becomes exhausted, when the takeup spool reaches its full predetermined size, and when certain other things happen such as, for example, repeated numerous thread breaks which exceed a predetermined number and frequency. When these occurrences other than a normal thread breakage take place, it is very inconvenient to have the feeler means move in the same way as during a normal thread breakage, because the feeler means then gets in the way and hinders whatever steps are necessary to resume operations. As far as is known, no means has been provided up to the present time to prevent movement of the ieeler means at predetermined times, and even a manual means to prevent movement of the feeler means is unknown to the art.

One of the objects of the present invention is to overcome the above disadvantages by providing an apparatus for automatically preventing operation of the feeler means when thread does not extend with a predetermined tension from the supply spool to the take-up spool for a reason other than a normal breakage of thread.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a means for manually preventing movement of the feeler means.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a means to automatically prevent movement of the feeler means when a container for reserve supply spools becomes empty.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means for automatically preventing movement of the feeler means when the take-up spool reaches a prede tenrn'ned size.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a means for automatically preventing movement of the feeler means when the number and frequency of thread breakages exceeds a predetermined value.

Furthermore, the objects of the present invention include the provision of a means for moving the feeler means back to its normal operating position immediately ice after a thread break so that the feeler means does not obstruct the repairing of the thread break.

With the above objects in view, the present invention mainly consists of a textile machine for winding a thread from a supply spool to a take-up spool, and including a support and a feeler means turnably mounted on the support for engaging a thread moving from the supply spool to the take-up spool and being adapted to turn by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool. An electrical circuit is connected to the ieeler means to be closed by movement of the latter upon breakage of the thread, this electrical circuit being adapted to set into operation apparatus for repairing the break in the thread. A control means is mounted on the support adjacent the feeler means to prevent movement thereof when the thread does not move to the take-up spool for a reason other than a breakage of the thread extending from the supply spool to the take-up spool.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, a support 1 is shown therein and is adapted to be fixedly mounted on a textile machine, this support 1 supporting a shaft 3 which carries a guide roll 2 for free rotation. The thread F proceeds from a supply spool (not shown) upwardly in an inclined direction to the guide roll 2 and take-up spool 4 which turns by engagement with the guide roll 2, the latter being turned in any suitable way known in the art and not illustrated in the drawings.

The take-up spool 4 is turnably carried by a take-up spool carrier 5 diagrammatically shown in the drawing and being turnable on the pivot 6 carried by the support 1, this carrier 5 having a sector-shaped portion 7 located on the opposite side of pivot 6 from the take-up spool 4. As the size of the take-up spool increases the carrier 5 turns in a clockwise direction about pivot 6, as viewed in the drawing, and the portion 7 of carrier 5 continually moves in a downward direction. A lever 8 is provided with a lug 9 engaging the sector-shaped portion 7 of carrier 5 and has a thumb grip 10 at the top end thereof for manual turning of the lever 8, the latter being turnably mounted intermediate its ends on the pivot 11 carried by the support 1. The lever 8 includes a lower lever arm 12 carrying a pin 13, and a spring 14 is connected to the support 1 and arm 12 of lever 8 to urge the latter in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 11, as viewed in the drawing, so that the lug 9 is always maintained in engagement with the portion 7 of the take-up spool carrier 5.

An elongated rod 15 is provided with a substantially U-shaped bend at its right end, as viewed in the drawing, and this bend extends about the pin 13 of lever 8 so that the rod 15 may be moved independently of the lever 8. Members 16 and 17 are spaced along and fixed to the rod 15, for a purpose described below, and the rod 15 is linked at 18 to a lever 19, 20 which is turnably mounted intermediate its ends on a pivot pin 21, carried by the support 1, the arm 20 of lever 19, 20 having a bent end portion 25. A spring 22 is connected to arm 20 and to pin 24 to urge the lever 19, 20 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 21, as viewed in the drawing, this spring 22 serving to maintain the right end of rod 15 in engagement with pin 13.

An elongated shaft 26 extends vertically through the support 1 and has a bottom knurled end so that the shaft'26 may be manually turned, this shaft 26 having an eccentric 27 fixedly connected thereto. The eccentric 27 is located opposite the member 17 fixed to the rod so that when the shaft 26 is turned, eccentric 27. will engage member 171 and move the rod 15.

A lever 29, 39' is turnably mounted intermediate its ends on a pivot 2-3 carried by the support 1, and the arm 29 of the lever 29, 30 is located opposite the member 16 as shown in the drawing. The arm 39 of this lever carries a pin 31 to which a spring 32 is connected, this spring being carried. by a lug 33 fixed to the support 1. The spring 32 urges the lever 29, 30 in a clockwise direction about pivot 28, as viewed in the drawing, and the manually engageable rod 34 is connected also to the pin 31 for turning the lever 29, 39 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 28 against the action of spring 32.

A catch member in the form of a. bimetallic strip 36 having a bent end portion engaging the lower end of lever 30 is fixed to the support 1 and prevents movement of lever 29, 3t? under the influence of spring 32. A heating coil 37 is located about the bimetallic element 36 and is connected to a suitabie counter (diagrammatically shown in the drawing) for registering the number and/or frequency of thread breaks and for energizing the heating coil when the number and/or frequency of the thread breaks exceeds a predetermined value. The construction of this device forms no part of the present invention. Any suitable device of this nature may be used with the invention, such as, for example, the device disclosed in the copending application Serial Number 265,791, filed January 10, 1952, and entitled Thread Winding Process and Apparatus.

A feeler means, which includes a lever 39, is turnably mounted on the pivot pin 33 carried by the support 1 and is free to turn by gravity in a clockwise direcf tion about pivot pin 38, as viewed in the drawing, from the position shown in the drawing. The free end 40 of lever 39 engages the thread F between the stationary rods 41 and 4Z'of the textile machine, so that this thread F prevents such turning movement of the feeler means. This feeler means includes a projection 43' and an extension 44 extending in different directions from each other and the lever'39', and the extension 44 is heavier than the remaining parts of the feeler means so as to urge the latter to turn by gravity in a clockwise direction about pivot pin 38 from the position shown in Fig. 1.

An arm 45 of the feeler means carries an insulated electrical contact which is in the circuit 46 supplied with electricity from any suitable source of current, such as the battery 48, the circuit 46 including a coil 47.

. The contact 49 of the electrical circuit is located opposite the contact carried by arm 45 to be engaged by this contact upon turning of the feeler means as described below.

A portion 59 of the support 1 is formed with a vertical bore through vhich the rod 51 extends, this rod 51 being guided by a bearing 52 of the machine and engaging at its lower end a cam 53 formed with a cutout54 into which the rod 51 extends, this rod resting on cam 53 by gravity. The cam 53 is fixed on ashaft 55 which is turned by any suitable means such as a motor or the like connected to the shaft through a slip clutch so that the shaft 55' may be restrained against turning movement. This restraining of shaft 55 is obtained through the disc 56 which is fixed to the shaft 55 and provided with a notch 57 into which an end of an armature 58 65 are located, the bottommost supply spool engaging arm 61 to maintain the lever 61, 62 in the position shown in the drawing. The supply spools may be successively released from the container 64 and carried in a position f om which the thread F extends as shown in the drawing by any suitable structure, such as, for example, that shown in copending application Serial Number 308,033, filed September 5, 1952, and entitled Thread extends, this armature 53 extending through the coil 47 Transporting Mechanism.

' The above-described structure operates as follows:

I When a part of the thread F extending between the supply spool and take-up spool breaks, the free end 40 of the feeler means will move to the left between the stationary guides 41 and 42 under the influence of gravity, and the arm 45 will move the contact carried thereby to the left, as viewed in the drawing, into engagement with the contact 49 so as to close the circuit 46. In this way an apparatus connected to this electrical circuit and not shown in the drawing is set into operation to knot together the broken ends of the thread and start the device into operation again. This apparatus may have the construction shown in the above-mentioned copending application Serial Number 308,033. p

Also, when the circuit 46 is closed, the coil 47 will be energized to move the armature 58 to the left, so that the armature 58 moves out of the notch 57 and the disc 56 and shaft 55 and cam 53 therewith are released for turning movement as described above. This turning of cam 53 raises the rod 51 which engages the extension 44 of the feeler means to move the latter in a counterciockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing, back to the position shown in the drawing, so that the lever 39 will not'get in the way of the apparatus for repairing the break in the thread. This raising of the extension 44 of the feeler means also separates the contact carried by arm 45 from contact 49 so as to open that portion of circuit 46 shown in the drawing, and the armature 58 is urged back to the position shown in the drawing by a spring (not shown) so that this armature 58 enters the notch 57' and stops the turning of shaft 55 after the latter turns through one revolution, the thread break having been repaired in the meantime so that the parts are again in the position shown in the drawings.

As the size of spool 4 increases, the sector-shaped portion 7 is constantly moving in a downward direction, and when the size of spool 4 reaches a predetermined magnitude the lug 9 extends over the top edge of portion 7 of the take-up spool carrier 5, and the lever 8 turns in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 11, as viewed in the drawing, under the influence of spring 14. This movement of the lever 8 causes, the arm 12 and pin 13 to move tothe right, as viewed in the drawing, so that the rod 15 is moved to the right also, and the lever 19, 29 is turned in a clockwise direction about pivot 21, as viewed in the drawing, so that the bent end 25 of arm 20 engages extension 44 to prevent movement of the arm 39. Thus, the feeler means does not come into play when mechanism. After the full take-up spool is removed from carrier 5 and a new support for the take-up spool is placed thereon, the operator engages the thumb grip 10 of lever 8 and moves the latter against. the action of spring 14 back to the position shown'in the drawing, and operations arerecommenced.

As was mentioned above, it may be desirable to manually prevent operation of the feeler means. at any. time, and this is done simply by turning shaft 26 which. turns eccentric 2 7' to engage'member 17 and move rod 15. to the right against the action of spring 22,, the rod 15 simply sliding along the pin 13". In this way also, the bent end 25 of arm 20 of lever 1?, 20 engages extension 44 of the feeler means to prevent; operation of the latter.

When the shaft 26 is turned to move the eccentric 27 back to its rest position shown in the drawing, the spring 22 automatically returns the lever 19, 20 and the rod to the position illustrated.

As was mentioned above, a device of any known type for detecting the number or frequency of thread breaks energizes the heating coil 37 when the number or frequency of the thread breaks exceeds a predetermined value. For example, the thread knotting mechanism may be working improperly and will result in repeated breaking of the thread, so that at such time it is best to prevent the operation of the feeler means which will only continue the repeated ineffective repairing of the thread. A device of the above type detects an unusual number or frequency of thread breaks and energizes the coil 37 so that the latter heats the bimetallic member 36 to cause the latter to bend and move the end 35 thereof away from the lower end of arm 30 of lever 29, 30. Thus, when this occurs the spring 32 will turn the lever 29, 30 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 28, as viewed in the drawing, and the arm 29 will engage the member 16 to move the rod 15 to the right, as viewed in the drawing, in the same way as was described above in connection with eccentric 27 and member 17 and with similar results, in that by this construction the end 25 of arm 20 will also engage extension 44 to prevent turning of the lever 39 of the feeler means. When the breakdown in the apparatus has been repaired, the operator engages the rod 34 to manually return the lever 29, 30 to the position shown in the drawing where it is engaged by end 35 of member 36, and the operations are again started.

As was pointed out above, as long as reserve supply spools 65 are located in the container 64, the lever 61, 62 will be held by the lowermost supply spool 65 in the position shown in the drawing. However, when there are no longer any supply spools in the container 64, the heavier arm 62 of lever 61, 62 will cause the latter to turn in a clockwise direction about pivot 60, as viewed in the drawing, and the bent end 63 of arm 62 will engage the projection 43 of the feeler means to prevent turning of the latter when there are no more supply spools 65 in the container 64. In this way needless operation of the feeler means and the various parts set into the operation thereby is avoided when the container 64 is empty.

It is believed to be apparent that the above structure provides an effective control or blocking means for automatically or manually preventing operation of the feeler means when thread F does not move to the take-up spool 4 for a reason other than a normal breakage in this thread F.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of control apparatus for textile machines differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in an apparatus for controlling the thread feeler means of a textile machine, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structure changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means mounted on said support for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for moving by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool; and control means mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means for preventing movement thereof when thread does not move to the take-up spool for a reason other than a breakage of the thread extending from the supply spool to the take-up spool.

2. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means mounted on said support for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool; and blocking means mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means for blocking movement thereof when thread does not move to the take-up spool for a reason other than a breakage of the thread extending from the supply spool to the take-up spool.

3. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means mounted on said support for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool; a container mounted on said support for holding reserve supply spools; and control means mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means and being operatively connected to said container for preventing movement of said feeler means when said container is empty.

4. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means mounted on said support for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool; detecting means mounted on said support for detecting when the take-up spool reaches a predetermined size; and control means located on said support adjacent said feeler means and being operatively connected to said detecting means to be operated thereby to prevent movement of said feeler means when the take-up spool reaches said predetermined size.

5 In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means mounted on said support for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool; control means mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means for preventing movement thereof; and operating means associated with said control means for operating the same to prevent movement of said feeler means to operate said control means, when the number and frequency of the thread breakages exceed a predetermined value.

6. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means mounted on said support for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool; control means mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means for preventing movement thereof when thread does not move to the take-up spool for a reason other than a breakage of the thread extending from the supply spool to the take-up spool; a rod mounted on said support for movement to and from a position engaging said feeler means and holding the latter in an operating position where said feeler means is located before breakage of the thread; moving means operatively connected to said rod for moving the same to said position; and electrical release means operatively connected to said moving means for releasing the latter to move said rod, said electrical releasing means and for moving by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool, said feeler means being in the form of a lever turnably mounted on said support and having a projection extending therefrom; and control means mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means for preventing movement thereof when thread does not move to the take-up spool for a reason other than a breakage of the thread extending from the supply spool to the take-up spool, said control means including a second lever turnably mounted on said support for movement to and from a position engaging said projection of said feeler means to prevent turning of the latter.

8. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool, said feeler means being in the form of a first lever turnably mounted on said support and having a projection extending therefrom; a container mounted on said support and being adapted to hold reserve supply spools; and a second lever turnably mounted on said support adjacent'said feeler means, having one end extending into said container to be engaged by a spool therein and having an opposite end located adjacent said projection of said first'lever and being maintained in spaced relation to said projection by a spool in the container, so that when the latter is emptied of supply spools said second lever is free to turn to engage said projection of said first lever to prevent movement of said feeler means.

9. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means for engaging a thread moving from a suppiy spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool, said feeler means being in the form of a first lever turnably mounted on said support and having a projection extending therefrom in one direction and an extension extending therefrom in another direction; a container mounted on said support and being adapted to hold reserve supply spool; a second lever turnably mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means, having one end extending into said container to be engaged by a spool therein and having an opposite end located adjacent said projection of said first lever and being maintained in spaced relation to said projection by a spool in the container, so that when the latter is emptied of supply spools said second lever is free to turn to engage said projection of said first lever to prevent movement of said feeler means; a take-up spool carrier turnably mounted on said support for turning movement as the take-up spool increases in size; a third lever turnably mounted on said support and'having a lug extending from said third lever and engaging said take-up spool carrier; spring means connected to said third lever and urging said lug thereof into engagement with said carrier so that said third lever suddenly turns through a predetermined distance when said carrier moves beyond said lug upon attainment of a predetermined take-up spool size; a rod extending from said third lever and being movable independently thereof; and a fourth lever turnably mounted on said support, being connected to saidrod, and having an end portion located adjacent said extension of said feelers means torengage the latter and prevent movement of said feeler means when said take-up spool carrier moves beyond said lug of said third lever.

10; In aj'textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool ontoa take-up spool, in combination, a support; feeler means for engaging a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool, said feeler meansbeing in the form of a firstlever turnably mounted on said support and having a projection extending therefrom in one direction and an extension extending therefrom in another direction; a container mounted on said support and being 7 be engaged by a spool therein and having an opposite; end located adjacent said projection of said first lever.

and being maintained in spaced relation to said projection by a spool in the container, so that when the latter is emptied of supply spools said second lever is free to turn to engage said projection of'said first lever to prevent movement of said feeler means; a take-up spool carrier turnably mounted on said support for turning movement as the take-up spool increases in size; a third lever turnably mounted on said support and having a lug extending from said third lever and engaging said. take-up spool carrier; spring means connected to said third lever and urging said lug thereof into engagement with said carrier so that said third lever suddenly turns through a predetermined distance when said carrier moves beyond said lug upon attainment of. a predetermined take-up spool size; a rod extending from said third lever and being movable independently thereof; a fourth lever turnably mounted on said support, being connected to said rod, and having an end portion located adjacent said extension of said feeler means to engage the latter and prevent movement of said feeler means when said ta ke-up spool'carrier moves beyond said lug of said third lever; and manual moving means associated with said rod for moving the latter independently of said third lever so as to thereby turn said fourth lever manually to prevent operation of said feeler means.

11. In a textile machine for winding thread from a supply spool onto a take-up spool, in combination, a' support; feeler means for engaging, a thread moving from a supply spool to a take-up spool and for movement by gravity upon breakage of the thread between the supply spool and take-up spool, said feeler means being in the form of a first lever turnably mounted on said support and having a projection extending. therefrom in one direction and an extension extending therefrom in another direction; a container mounted on said support and being adapted to hold reserve supply spool; a second lever turnably mounted on said support adjacent said feeler means, having one end extending into said container to be engaged by a spool therein and havin an opposite end located adjacent said projection of said first lever and being maintained in spaced relation to said projection by a spool in the container, so that when the latter is emptied of supply spools said second lever is free to turn to engage said projection of said first lever to prevent movement of extending from said third lever and being movable independently thereof; and a fourth lever turnably mounted on said support, being connected to said rod, and having an end portion located adjacent said extension of said feeler means to engage the latter and prevent movement of said feeler means when said take-up spool carrier moves beelement for heating the same so as to bend said bimetallic element to release said fourth lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gibbs et al Jan. 23, 1945 Brastad Dec. 23, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS France Oct. 4, 1943 

